The new CG-animated children’s series Animalia from PorchLight Ent. will be presented to PBS stations across the U.S. through a deal with WETA, a PBS station in Washington, D.C. Based on the international best-selling picture book by Graeme Base, the show will begin airing on PBS outlets in early January, 2008.
Produced by Burberry/Lux Monkey/DoubleBase Prods., in association with PorchLight Ent., Animalia revolves around contemporary kids Zoe and Alex, who visit the extraordinary land of Animalia, a spectacular place inhabited by talking animals from the pages of Base’s classic book. Mysterious events have undermined the very fabric of Animalia’s civilization, and Zoe and Alex join forces with a huge green gorilla and a small, but heroic, iguana to restore peace and order to the enchanted realm. The adventure-comedy-mystery show will be accompanied by an interactive website.
In addition to PBS, Animalia will be broadcast on BBC in the U.K., CBC in Canada, and Network Ten and Nickelodeon in Australia. The series is being distributed internationally by BBC Worldwide and in North America by PorchLight Ent. Worldwide licensing and merchandising are being handled by PorchLight, with the exception of Australia, New Zealand and the U.K., where rights are handled by BBC Worldwide.
Animalia is being produced by Animalia Prods., a joint venture between BAFTA-Award winning Burberry Prods., Graeme Base and co-producer Murray Pope, in association with PorchLight. Exec producers are Ewan Burnett, Graeme Base, Bruce Johnson, Tom Ruegger and Murray Pope.
